Glora Uptra
Population: 19,975 (20% Drow, 20% Duergar, 20% Gloamling, 10% Svirfneblin, 10% Shield Dwarves, 5% Goblin, 5% Human, 5% Illithid. 5% Kuo-Toa) Government: Republic Religions: Lolth, Deep Duerra, Laduguer, Ilsensine, Blibdoolpoolp, Calladuran Smoothhands, Malugbiet, Moradin Imports: Numerous Exports: Numerous Alignment: All Life and Society Glora Uptra is known as the Metropolis of the Underdark. Indeed, no city in the Underdark is larger, in either population, or size. No city in the Underdark is as culturally diverse as Glora Uptra, either. While the city was originally founded by Gloamlings, the city is now populated by Gloamlings, as well as Drow, Duergar, Shield Dwarves, Illithid, Deep Gnomes, Goblin and Humans. What is so remarkable about Glora Uptra, as opposed to in other Underdark cities that are ruled by one race, but have large minorities of others, is that in Glora Uptra, there is no dominant race. Though individual races certainly have their own biases and prejudices, officially, no one race is treated better or worse than any other. And, while in many places, what happens officially is much different from what happens in actuality, in Glora Uptra, this is what happens officially and in actuality. What has caused the city to develop this way, when nearly every other city in the Underdark is broken down into racial lines? Money. Glora Uptra is the center of commerce in the Underdark. Indeed, most settlements in the Underdark have some sort of relation to the city, be it full-blown diplomatic connections or simply by merchants operating in, or using the byways of the city. Coin has proven more valuable than traditional racial prejudices and hatreds, and in Glora Uptra, Humans, Drow and Duergar can all work side-by-side, under the employ of a Svirfneblin manager, and a Dwarven boss. The massive cultural assimilation and symbiosis that takes place in Glora Uptra has had a profound impact on the residents of the city, and on the city itself. For one thing, religion is not as radical as it is in other settlements. Temples dedicated to Lolth, who commands the Drow to dominate all other things in the Underdark, do indeed exist within Glora Uptra, but Drow Clerics here are less radical than in more traditional Drow settlements. Likewise, temples dedicated to Laduguer and Deep Duerra- the Duergar deities- can exist side by side with temples dedicated to the traditional members of the Mordinsamman and not have any problems. Residents of Glora Uptra have made remarkable advances in all sorts of fields, because of the coherent unity of various races, with different insights into different things. For example, the city is coated in various spots with a special phosphorescent lichen that begins to glow and shed light only when individuals are present, a hybrid that was created by a joint effort of Svirfneblin and Illithid botanists. This is only one of the remarkable things to be found in the Metropolis of the Underdark. The marketplaces of Glora Uptra are truly massive. The city contains over a dozen major marketplaces, and scores of lesser marketplaces. The major marketplaces- connected to each other by portals operated by the government of the city, ensuring fair usage- are constantly crowded, with goods from all over the Underdark and surface world being hawked to buyers from all over the Underdark and the surface world. Unlike many other settlements in the Underdark, the rulers of Glora Uptra keep track of the population of their city, and take censuses every single year. This allows the Ruling Council of Glora Uptra to continually modify itself, to ensure that all races are represented in the council. These censuses cause the Ruling Council of Glora Uptra to add or remove representatives, based on racial lines. Major Organizations Major Geographical Features Glora Uptra lies within a large cavern, and the city itself has expanded to take up the entire expanse of the cavern. Unlike many other settlements in the Underdark, Glora Uptra extends both horizontally and vertically. The city has numerous levels, asides for sprawling growth. The center of the city is built around a large chasm known as ‘The Wellspring’. This chasm is so deep, it eventually merges with the Plane of Shadows. It was through this chasm that the original Gloamling founders of Glora Uptra came to the Material Plane, and it is through this chasm that much of the merchant caravans going to and from the city depart or arrive from. Unlike many other settlements in the Underdark, Glora Uptra is not built in or around a natural source of water. Instead, the water that can be found in the city is brought through trade, or is created using magic. The district of Glora Uptra that houses the majority of the city’s Kuo-Toa population was purposefully flooded, and is the closest thing the city can claim as a lake or any other body of water. Much of the city is covered in a special fungus that is known as ‘Mind Moss’. It is very similar to luminescent lichen that grows all over the Underdark, but this special hybrid can only be found in Glora Uptra. Deep Gnome and Illithid botanists created the moss, which unlike mundane luminescent lichens, only begin glowing when it senses the ambient psionic energy of a living being near by. Because of this, the plant conserves it’s energy, and is hardier and more plentiful in the city. Important Sites Regional History Glora Uptra was founded in the year 877, when the original Gloaming settlers of the city came to the Material Plane from the Plane of Shadows. The band of Gloamlings had been fleeing from a Shadow Dragon that was perusing their tribe, and they came into the Material Plane in an effort to hide from the Wyrm. The Gloamlings found the area that they had arrived to on the Material Plane was fairly defensible, so they settled in the area, curtailing their natural nomadic instincts for the time being, until they found it was safe to return to the Plane of Shadows. To test the proverbial waters, every so often, Gloamling scouts would enter back into the Plane of Shadows, to discover whether or not the Dragon that had been pursuing them was still in the area of the plane that the Gloamlings traditionally called their homes. Time after time, however, as the years passed by, the Gloamlings were unable to return to their ancestral home, the powerful Shadow Dragon seemingly taking up permanent residence where the Gloamlings once roamed. The creatures had not been hiding in isolation while first coming to the Underdark, however. Being naturally inquisitive, the creatures had begun exploring the Underdark, even before they had started their expeditions back into the Plane of Shadows. In the Underdark, they found numerous settlements, some that seemed dangerous to the diminutive shadow fey creatures, and some which did not seem dangerous to the shadow fey creatures. With the settlements that they did not feel threatened by, the Gloamlings introduced themselves, and entered into alliances and agreements with. For the most part, the Gloamlings relied on products from the Plane of Shadows that they had brought with them, to the Material Plane, that other races not native to the Plane of Shadows found exotic and rare. As the likelihood that they would ever be able to return to their ancestral home grew slimmer and slimmer, the Gloamlings relied heavier and heavier on their connections to the Plane of Shadow to provide trade goods with other settlements, for goods or favors in return. While the Gloamlings could not return to their ancestral homes to live, they could freely move back and forth between the two planes. As they began trading more and more, their notoriety in the Underdark began to rise. Soon, in the years that followed, a massive migration to Glora Uptra, the city of the Gloamlings, began. To accommodate all these new arrivers, the city began expanding, and went from a small fortress that the original Gloamlings had built for mutual defense, to a small village, then to a small town, then to a small city. Races from all over the Underdark began coming to Glora Uptra, and the city entered into a golden age of sorts. Using the funds that they had made from engaging in trade and other activities, the Gloamlings hired adventurers to hunt and slay the Dragon that had hunted them and drove them from their ancestral homes years before. With the Dragon gone, the Gloamlings could return to their ancestral homelands, which many did. This left a gaping hole in the ruling structure of the city, however. The Gloamlings themselves were a geriocracy, with the elders of the roaming tribes ruling. Most elder Gloamlings returned to the Plane of Shadow. In order for the city to continue to exist, it’s governmental structure needed to be altered. The government was soon changed into a ruling council, with its members determined by the racial demographics of the city.